


Captain and the Mechanic

by RobotCryBaby



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Gen, Reader-Insert, The Clone Wars finale made me really sad so I now I need to post this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:21:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24005776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobotCryBaby/pseuds/RobotCryBaby
Relationships: CT-7567 | Rex/Reader
Comments: 7
Kudos: 56





	1. Chapter 1

The 501st had been stationed on Coruscant for a few rotations as their ship made repairs. The General had been busy with Jedi business and had given the men some time off. Most brothers spent their time between the local barracks and 79’s. Rex, ever the workaholic, was nose deep in paperwork and mission reports until most late hours.

This had been the Captain’s routine for the past 2 rotations, and both nights he saw R2 quietly sneak off base and exit into the heart of the city. Rex tried to forget about it, brushing it off as something the General had asked the droid to do but his curiosity was eating at him.

He saw the little droid roll past his office again, but this time Rex was going to get some answers.

R2, learning from the best, was able to effortlessly slip past the doors and security without detection. Rex followed behind, making sure to keep distance so that the little droid wouldn’t pick up on his tail. The droid dipped in and out of the citizens milling about the chaotic streets and made his way to the upper-mid levels of Coruscant.

R2 stopped abruptly at a small building in one of the darker corners of the street and looked about. Rex was barely able to duck out of sight as R2 looked scanned for any followers before continuing to the back of the store and disappearing from view.

“Where are you going?” Rex wondered aloud before following. As he rounded the corner he saw a light leaking into the side alley. Beeping echoed from a door that was slightly ajar. Rex approaches the door on high alert, ready to jump into a fight and rescue R2 from whatever creature had lured him down there.

Just as he was nearing the door, he heard R2 beep followed by an excited voice.

“No kidding!” The voice laughed. Rex stopped and listened to the conversation. The person who spoke seemed non-threatening and sounded young.

R2 beeped again, whirring happily at whoever was with him. The mysterious person laughed playfully, their voice soft and full of life.

“I can’t believe that he did that! I’m surprised anyone can keep up with him!” 

R2 beeped in response.

“Yeah, I suppose it’s a good thing you're around to help keep him in check! Who knew Jedi could be so ridiculous.”

Rex’s eyes widened in surprise. Now his General was involved and he’d heard enough. Quietly he peeled the door back and stepped into the doorframe.

R2 was propped up and sitting in front of a hunched over figure who seemed to be tinkering with the little droid. Tools lay scattered about the tiny garage-like space in an organized chaos that would put Fives to shame.

R2 spun his dome around and chirred as the figure lovingly patted his head and reached for a small brush on the bench beside them. It was then that R2 finally noticed Rex standing in the doorway and beeped in surprise.

The figure shot up and sent the small stool they were sitting on careening off to the side. They spun around, tools still in hand, with a wild look in their eye.

“Oh my goodness, can I help you?” She asked nervously. Rex looked her over. She was in overalls and an oversized shirt, covered in dirt and grime from head to toe. Her hair was cut short and pulled out of her face with what seemed like an old cloth.

R2 beeped at her, causing her to immediately drop the tools in her hand and straighten up.

“Oh my god, you’re Captain Rex!” She saluted him stiffly. “Hello, Sir!” She faltered slightly in her form, slouching and started to anxiously ramble. “Oh, that was weird, wasn’t it? God I’m not a soldier, was it rude to salute you? Probably. No definitely was. Shit. Um, hi.” She stretches out an invitation to shake hands before quickly pulling it back, as though her hand had touched fire. “Oh my god, no handshake is way too casual! I need to have more respect. And I’m filthy so you probably don’t want to touch me anyway! Shit, sorry, I’m rambling!” She ended with a nervous laugh as she slapped her head.

Rex could only smirk at her antics. She obviously knew who he was, best guess is R2 had told her, but her failed attempt at an introduction made him chuckle slightly and put him a ease.

“What are you doing with this droid?” He asked, though a little more relaxed he wouldn’t let his guard down completely.

“Oh shit, right. Do you have a mission? I can finish really quick, I was just doing some detailing for him and-“ 

Rex cut her off before she could ramble further. “No, I meant why is he down here, with you?”

“Oh, uh,” she looked to R2 as if asking permission to tell him the reason. R2 gave a soft boop which she returned with a soft smile.

“Um, well sometimes R2 comes down here for special cleaning or repairs when he’s on world.”

“We’ve got our own repair units at the base.” Rex stated, crossing his arms.

“I’ve told him that many times.” She turned to scowl at the droid. “But he seems to like it here and I’m always happy to help, plus I enjoy the company.” She smiles at him.

“The company? Of droids?” He raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“Yeah, well I’m sort of a mechanic, self-taught. Mostly I just do small repairs, cleaning, touch up paint and other little stuff like that. Don’t worry, I don’t charge or anything, I’m not really licensed so it’s not a business, I just...ya know, do it for fun.” She shrugged.

“And how exactly did you meet this droid?”

She beamed at him as she slung an arm around R2, patting him gently. “Oh, long time ago he was wandering around down here, looking for something and got roughed up by some idiots. I found him and cleaned him up and helped him back home. He’s been coming back here since.”

“Huh.” Rex couldn’t deny that he found her intriguing. A mystery and an oddity, but interesting and full of wonder, something he didn’t see a lot of in the galaxy.

“Oh god, do you want something to drink? I could whip you up something to eat from the cafe if you want?” She turned to head into what Rex assumed was her house. He chuckled, he’d never been offered a drink by civilians before, much less one he had snuck up on and accused of stealing his droid.

“No thanks, but I appreciate the offer.” He laughed lightly which seemed to relax her a little. “I can see that R2 there introduced me already, but I didn’t catch your name.”

“Oh! Right! I’m Y/N.” She smiled at him brightly. They stood in the quiet garage, silently waiting for the other to make the next move. 

Growing tired of waiting, R2 booped impatiently which caused Y/N to jump.

“Yeah, yeah don’t worry your circuits. I’ll make sure to finish detailing before I let him take you away.” She turned back to Rex. “Um, you can take a seat if you want while you wait, it won’t be long.” She gestured to a chair off to the side, the seat covered in a layer of dust.

She turned back and began working on R2 once more. She seemed to get lost in her work, seemingly forgetting Rex was even in the room. Rex studied her as she worked diligently.

Her fingers expertly moved the tools in her hands, delicately straightening various wires and circuits in R2’s chassis. Her eyes sparkled and she chatted aimlessly back and forth with the droid. Rex couldn’t help the fond feeling that crept into his heart as he watched the two interact.

Suddenly there was a new presence at the door. A serving droid cradled a detached arm knocked gently on the metal surface of the door.

“Miss Y/N.” The serving droid spoke, tearing her attention away from the astromech. “May I ask for some assistance?”

“Oh god, what happened.” She shot to her feet, concern etched into her expression, as she gingerly helped the droid inside and sat it down next to an adjacent workstation. 

She took the arm and examined it carefully. “It got stuck in the compactor again, didn’t it?” She asked. A sadness filled her voice that surprised Rex. She spoke to these droids and empathized with them as if they were flesh and blood.

“I’m so sorry. I’ll get you fixed up as soon as I’m done with R2, okay?” She quickly pecked the side of the droid’s face with a soft kiss before returning to R2, putting the last finishing touches on her work.

She leaned back and examined her handiwork. “Okay, looks like you’re good to go. Try to avoid sand planets for a while, it took forever to clean your servos this time.” She scolded the little droid as if it were a small child. She laughed before leaning down and giving a quick kiss to the top of the astromech’s dome. “Stay out of trouble, okay?” She smiled softly as R2 beeped and rolled over to Rex. 

“Good to go little buddy?” Rex asked, R2 booped an affirmative and turned to leave.

“Wait.”

Y/N stopped him. Rex turned and saw her nervously playing with her fingers, not quiet making eye contact with him.

“I just wanted to...to thank you for, you know, keeping the galaxy safe and putting yourself in danger all the time. I know you guys probably don’t get recognized all that much for what you do, but it really does mean a lot to us. To me.”

Rex was stunned, happily so. He was thanked by a civilian, one whom he didn’t even directly save. She offered appreciation freely to him.

He smirked. “Just doing my duty.”

“No. It’s more than that. I know it is. So, thank you.” She looked at him, eyes filled with sincerity, a slight blush dancing across her cheeks.

Rex didn’t know how to respond. Here was someone who recognized and seemed to understand a little bit more of what the clones do. He was stunned.

“Oh, um Captain?” 

He chuckled. “You can just call me Rex.”

She smiled brightly at that. “Rex, feel free to drop by the cafe anytime! We’re open everyday, and you can eat free of charge! Or if you even need a droid repaired just drop by and I’ll help.”

Rex nodded thoughtfully. He’d never been offered anything like that from people aside from his brothers. “Thank you, I think I might just take you up on that offer.” He smiled.

“Great! It’s a date! Wait, no, I mean like plan! It’s a plan! Well not really a plan, I guess, I mean you don’t have to come and I know you’re busy and don’t want to commit to anything so-“ 

She was beginning to ramble again, Rex was figuring it was probably a regular thing for her. He couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. He found her extremely interesting and kind. He couldn’t help but feel drawn to her, wanting to know more about her. 

“How ‘bout tomorrow? 1600?” 

She gaped at him a moment before counting on her fingers, trying to calculate what time he meant. “Of course! 1600 is great! I’ll be waiting! Shit, no I mean like I’ll be expecting you not like  _ waiting _ waiting, you know-“ she quickly stiffened her back and lightly slapped her head. “I mean I’ll see you then.” She chuckled nervously.

He returned the smile, she was already growing on the clone captain. “See you then.” 


	2. Chapter 2

The next day had started out as a complete disaster. Fives and Hardcase had rigged the freshers with some sort of green dye, completely dousing a few shinies from head to toe, so not only was training delayed, Rex was also tasked with damage control. After reaming the two idiots a new one and setting them on latrine duty for the next 8 rotations, Rex decided to cancel the morning drills for the day, giving the shinies a reprieve. 

He still had some reports to catch up on, hoping to grab a caf and bury his head in paperwork, Rex hurried from the mess to his private quarters only to be stopped by Kix. The medic could tell that Rex was stressed the minute he laid eyes on the man, but the medbay was low on supplies and injury reports needed to be signed off. Rex internally groaned but accepted the new reports to deal with and continued on his way. Most Captains didn’t have all these bureaucracy issues to deal with, but most Captains weren’t working under Ahsoka and Skywalker. 

Rex couldn’t ask for a better Commander and General, but sometimes (all the time) that meant extra headaches for the poor Captain. Finally, he made it back to his quarters, downed the remainder of his caf, and got to work.

He got completely lost in the reports and only realized he had lost track of time when a soft alarm rang on his comm, signalling the time was 1530.

“Slag.” Rex huffed, he wasn’t watching and now was definitely going to be late for the lunch he had promised Y/N. He took one last glance at the mountain of reports left to do before shaking his head and getting up from his desk.

The war wouldn’t end just because a few reports were late, besides he could always blame it on his General if it really ended up being an issue.

  
  


He had rushed all the way to the familiar cafe, coming to a stop just in front of the doors, a neon sign flashed signifying that he was indeed in the correct place. He didn’t know why, he had barely even interacted with the woman, but he was really looking forward to seeing her again, even if it was just in passing. He had found her so intriguing and genuinely kind during their brief interaction the night before, she felt different to him. He couldn’t quite place it but he knew he had to see where this could lead him.

With a steadying breath he pulled open the doors and stepped into the quaint little cafe. There were booths along the walls and a few smaller tables scattered throughout the middle, with the counter at the far right of the space. It wasn’t busy, not being a rush hour, so there were only a few patrons scattered throughout the venue. A loud clattering brought his attention to the counter.

“Ow! Shit.” Y/N’s voice travelled to his ears, bringing a soft smile to his face. He made his way over and curiously peeked over the edge, to see Y/N crouched on the floor fishing around for a fallen tool, mumbling to herself. Rex cleared his throat lightly, trying to get her attention, but only managed to startle her as she yelped and smacked her head on the underside of the counter.

She stood abruptly, rubbing the back of her head, eyes squinting in slight pain. “Ah, I’m so sorry! I didn’t hear you come in, I -” she paused, finally opening her eyes to see who had startled her, “Oh, hi Rex! You came!” She beamed brightly at him as though she hadn’t nearly concussed herself moments ago.

Rex chuckled lightly. “M’sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. You okay?”

She looked at him confusedly before realizing what he meant. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine. It’s just a little bump.” She quickly knelt back down to pick up the fallen tool from before, placing it off to the side near what appeared to be a deconstructed caf machine. 

He raised an eyebrow in amusement. “So, what’s happened there?” He asked, gesturing to the miniature scrapyard.

“Hm? Oh, that! Yeah, the caf machine had a leak last week which I thought I had fixed but I guess it didn’t work as well as I thought because now it’s completely busted. Not great for a cafe that can’t serve caf.” She chuckled. “So, I’ve been trying to fix it all morning but can’t get the damn thing working.” She scowled and walked over to the mess, studying a few of the wires and parts scattered on the counter.

Rex watched her, he could almost see the gears turning in her head trying to figure out the solution. She looked so determined yet confident despite the frustration she was feeling. She picked up another piece and brought it closer to her face while she mumbled softly to herself. Rex could see the passion and joy in her eyes as she studied the mechanics of the machine, causing a soft flutter in his gut and brought a smile to his face.

Suddenly, Y/N dropped the piece of the machine and whipped around to face him. Rex’s face flushed with embarrassment. He hadn’t realized he had been staring until their eyes met. He glanced away quickly and coughed awkwardly into his hand.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry! You came here for lunch and I’m just prattling on about stupid broken equipment!” Her voice was filled with concern and guilt, Rex found it quite endearing. Not only had she not noticed Rex’s blatant admiring of her, she was completely appalled at herself for not asking for his order, as if Rex was here for the food and not the company.

Rex smiled before reassuring her. “Don’t worry about it, besides I was the one that asked.” This earned him a sympathetic smile before she picked up the pad beside her.

“Great, so like I said before, lunch is on the house! So what can I get you?”

“Um.” Rex hadn’t even considered the menu until this point, honestly the food was the last thing on his mind when he had agreed to the invitation. “Well, what’s something that you would recommend?”

“Oh well there’s our signature sandwich, that’s one of my favourites, but it has quite a kick to it so if you don’t really like spicy foods I wouldn’t recommend it. Um, there’s also the roasted Quialeg, that’s a favourite among our diners. We also have some stews that are served with these amazing pastries. Oh, but if you have any allergies to schule-nef then I would stay away from the stew.” Y/N was rambling off more dishes, counting them off on her fingers.

“Sure are a lot of options.” Rex chuckled, smirking at the way her cheeks dusted pink with embarrassment.

“Yeah, sorry. I should’ve just handed you the menu.” She cringed slightly and held the pad out towards the Clone. 

“I’ll take the house special.” He smiled brightly, leaning slightly on the counter.

“Oh great! I’ll put the order in right away. Um, you can have a seat wherever you like, we’re not super busy so make yourself at home.” She smiled at him before turning back to the kitchen. Rex watched her disappear behind the swinging doors and laughed softly to himself, revelling in the jittery feeling of his stomach.

A quick glance around told him the best place to sit, a booth where he’d have a clear line of sight to all the entrances and the kitchen while also keeping most of the patrons in his peripherals. He may not be on active duty at the moment, but he was a soldier first-and-foremost and it never hurt to stay on alert.

A few minutes later, Y/N returned with a plate in hand and placed the meal in front of him. It smelled delicious. He was so used to rations and mess food that any opportunity to get “real” food was always a treat, but even he had to admit that this was above even civilian standards.

“This looks amazing!” 

“Thanks! I mean, LD is the real artist when it comes to food, but even I can make a decent meal every once in a while.” She smiled brightly at him.

“LD?”

“Oh, LD is a helper droid we have working with us. I’ll never understand how they can have such an amazing palette when they don’t even have taste buds.”

Rex laughed loudly, which made Y/N smile even wider. 

“Well, let me know if you need anything else!” She turned to leave but Rex interrupted her.

“Have you had your break yet? Maybe you could join me, if you wanted to that is.” Rex looked up at her, she could see the genuine interest in his features; he really just wanted to talk with her, spend some time with her. She couldn’t remember the last time anyone had asked her something like that. Well, someone that wasn’t a robot that is.

She chewed on the inside of her lip in contemplation, glancing back at the kitchen before returning her gaze to Rex. Her cheeks flushed and a small smile crept on her lips.

“Sure. Let me just wrap a few things up, I’ll be right back.” She turned and disappeared into the kitchen once more.

He took a bite of the sandwich in front of him.  _ Holy shit. _ He thought to himself. Immediately he thought about his brothers, wanting to bring them here to share the amazing food. But then he’d perhaps have to share you and the food with his nosy vode, and he didn’t know if he wanted to subject you to that kind of torture just yet. He chuckled to himself as he imagined the chaos that Fives and Jesse could start just on their own.

Rex had nearly finished his lunch by the time she returned, carrying two glasses in hand. She passed one over to him, “Here, figured you could use something to drink.”

“Thank you.” He idly sipped at the drink, and calm silence falling between them.

“So…” Rex attempted to start conversation but the moment her eyes met his, he felt frozen in place. The colour of her eye’s was so vibrant, sparkling under the fluorescent lights above.

“So…” She continued, smirking at him expectantly.

“Why don’t you tell me a bit about yourself? Like how did you end up working in a place like this?”

Her expression warmed as she began to think. “Well, I’ve been bounced around a lot. Doing odd jobs here and there, but when I made it to Coruscant I ended up running into some old family friends. They’re the ones that own this place. I was kind of tired of always being on the move, so they offered me a job. I’ve been working here for a little over a year now, I just rent the back suite of the building that’s attached to the garage you saw yesterday.” Her hands fidgeted as she spoke, Rex figured it was probably a combination of nervousness and general habit.

“So you’ve travelled a lot then?” He asked, wanting to learn more about this woman.

“Sort of. You know how it is. You go to all these places but when you’re job hopping and stuff it’s difficult to actually experience much.” Rex nodded somberly, he knew exactly what that was like. “But you must have been all over the galaxy. I know you probably don’t get to do much when you’re off-world, but I’m sure you’re been to some pretty amazing places!” She smiled sweetly.

Rex chuckled sadly. “Sort of. I mean, most of the places we Clones get deployed aren’t exactly in the best of shape, plus not much time for sightseeing while you’re getting shot at by Seppies.” He sighed. 

She frowned. “Do you not get any time off while on missions?”

“Nah, we’re not even technically supposed to have leave while we’re stationed on Coruscant.” Rex shrugged nonchalantly. “I mean, even this little lunch is the first real food I’ve had in months.”

“Really?” Her face filled with concern as Rex nodded. A look of determination set across her face as she got out of the booth. She gently placed a hand on Rex’s resting on the table. “Hang on, don’t go anywhere.”

Before Rex could even respond she had rushed over to the droid manning the counter, that he assumed was LD. He watched as she leaned in close and whispered to the droid. They conversed quietly before Y/N pulled back and dashed into the kitchen, closely followed by the droid.

Rex was confused. He hadn’t seen any new customers come in since they began talking, so he didn’t think the interruption was work related. He thought back to their conversation and couldn’t think of anything out of the ordinary. Perhaps he had offended her? He couldn’t exactly think of how he might have, but regardless he’d apologize to her once she returned.

Moments later Y/N burst out from the kitchen with a large colourful glass in hand. She set it down in front of him and resumed her seat across from him. Rex looked at the drink, completely perplexed, looking between it and the excited look on Y/N’s face, trying to make sense of what was happening.

“Try it.” She nodded at the drink. Slowly, he took a small sip from the bendable straw protruding from the mixture. Instantly his mouth flooded with brilliant fruity flavours with tang elements all in a cold icy combination. Y/N watched as Rex’s eyes lit up at the taste, beaming brightly.

Rex greedily took another long sip before looking at her. “Y/N, that’s amazing! What is it?”

“It’s my own little invention, not even on the menu. It’s got a bunch of different fruits that I get at the markets here on Coruscant, but the ultimate ingredient is meiloorun! It’s really hard to find, even down here on the middle levels so I haven’t made some in quite some time, but I was finally able to get my hands on a couple the other day! And then you told me that you don’t even get to eat real food so of course I had to share this with you!”

Her smile nearly blinded Rex. The fact that this woman had not only listened to him but empathized and cared about him enough to share something so special warmed him to his very core. He had never imagined that anyone apart from his vode and maybe his Commander and General would do anything like that for him.

His elation was immediately replaced with guilt however. This meiloorun fruit was difficult to find and she chose to share what little she had with a Clone like him?

“I’m so sorry, you didn’t have to waste all this on me.” He sighed sheepishly to which she only giggled in response, which confused Rex even more.

“It’s not a waste, it’s for you! Food is meant to be shared with people, I’m happy I got to make this for you!”

Rex felt like his heart was about to burst.  _ She’s beautiful _ . He smiled at her, savouring the way her eyes sparkled.

“Well, if that’s the case, would you like some?” He inched the glass closer to her, smirking as her cheeks flushed.

A shy smile crept onto her face as she fidgeted with her hands. “Sure.”

They shared the drink together, talking about everything and nothing until it was nearly dark outside. Rex was dreading having to leave but knew it was inevitable.

“What would you say if I...dropped by from time to time? When I’m on world?” He asked, causing a grin to spread across her beautiful face. “I could even bring R2 around, I know how much you like his company.” 

She smirked. “I did say that I prefer the company of droids, didn’t I?.” She teased lightly. “But you’re not so bad yourself.”

“Ya think so?”   
  


“Yeah. I could get used to company like this.” She smiled sweetly as they both rose from the booth.

“Alright, well.” Rex felt like a cadet again, all awkward and unsure of himself. “I guess I’ll uh, see you sometime soon?” He felt completely nervous but was put slightly at ease when he noticed the same sort of giddy anxiety in her as well.

“You know where to find me.” She smiled.

Rex nodded, warmth flooding him to his core, and left. He stole one glance back at the cafe, catching a glimpse of Y/N cleaning up a few tables, with a smile on her face.

“Yeah,” he grinned, “I could get used to this.” 

**Author's Note:**

> The Clone Wars finale made me sad so now I'm posting this. If people like it I may continue or if anyone wants a different scenario written for Rex and the other boys (self-insert or not) feel free to let me know! I'm always looking for inspiration.


End file.
